Spectacular sea shores are abundant in the Philippines. Sublime beaches attract tourists from all over the world. Though the Philippines is roughly the same size as Arizona in total area, it has 36,289 kilometers of coastline, one of the longest combined coastlines in the planet (third after Canada and Indonesia). The United States, in comparison, has only 19,924 kilometers of coastline.

Our 7,107 islands have varying coastlines. Some are rocky, some are adorned with pebbles and shells, and some have powdery white sand, with blue-green, crystal waters. Unfortunately, some coastal waters are becoming dangerously dirty. One of our current environmental concerns is the escalating pollution of coastal mangrove swamps, the breeding grounds of fish and other marine life. Not to mention the trash people left behind.

The government, with the support of communities living in coastal areas, should be serious in coastal management to stop the fast disappearing shore-lines, and preserve our coral reefs and other marine ecosystems for future generations.

As we uplanders say---please do not forget the mountains and hills because everything is interrelated! With denuded mountains and hills around, coastal management will just be one frustrating job. The common thing that kills corrals (the supermarket area of fishes) is siltation.

We had appealed to several well-known NGOs to get involved with reforestations (strict as strict can be and long, long-termed) but they told us, it is easier to just focus on the coastal areas na lang...(whaa---? can't hear you!) As my husband would say "unbelievable" in German.

Beautiful beaches. If we could only address the peace and order problems in our country and if the Department of Tourism would only do a more decent job of promoting the country overseas, millions of foreign tourists could easily flock to our shores.

i know what you mean, Bernadette. most of our environmental problems are man-made. in the mountains, there are illegal loggers. at sea, there's dynamite fishing, pollution, just to mention a few. there's no easy task when there's corruption and zero political will on the part of our leaders. and it's funny, because when we them on TV, they want to save the butandings, mangroves, rain forests, coral reefs, etc. but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and funding, wala na. photo-op lang ang type nila.:D

the peace & order situation is being addressed i believe. pero alam mo na, one explosion of a homemade bomb in sultan kudarat would result to a travel advisory. if a tourist is well-informed, then he/she would still come here and go to boracay or cebu or palawan. of course, the dept. of tourism would tell you that they don't have enough funds to advertise abroad or join international travel shows to promote Philippine tourism. but i'm sure the current tourism secretary is doing his best.

but really, compared to Thailand or Malaysia, kulelat talaga tayo as a tourist destination. well, at least, there are now a lot of Pinoy bloggers who showcase the beauty of the Philippines. surely, it helps our tourism industry.

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From the Man in the Moon:

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” ~ Elie Wiesel